


Storm Born

by PlatonicSolid



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Post-Marineford
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-23
Updated: 2017-03-23
Packaged: 2018-10-09 16:39:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10416480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlatonicSolid/pseuds/PlatonicSolid
Summary: There were a handful of things Ace considered in his life to be worth the trouble of saving. His friends, of course, his captain, definitely, his brother, absolutely.So it came as no surprise that Ace was more than willing to give his life in exchange for his brother's.What he didn't consider, however, was that he'd make it back from that.





	

**Author's Note:**

> this fic has been sitting in my folder for years! I couldn't decide if I wanted to make anything else of it or leave it at this, but I've decided to post it and see how it does!
> 
> this was edited very limitedly, and I would say that my writing style has changed from this to now. hopefully it reads well!
> 
> the medical jargon, if I remember correctly enough, was courtesy of multiple articles and journals online. it is probably wrong. 
> 
> if anyone sees any errors, please feel free to point them out! 
> 
> thank you and I hope you enjoy!!!

If Portgas D. "Fire Fist" Ace had to die in some horrible way, whether it be directly at the hands of some enemy or by some accident, he would be perfectly fine with it if he were dying protecting his brother, Luffy.

 

That was exactly what he resolved himself to in that moment, anyway. When he saw the look in Akainu's eyes, the twitch of his hand, the smirk on his face, he knew that the admiral was aiming to kill with this attack. To kill either Luffy or Ace, the former in the event the latter didn't lose his composure.

 

Ace turned to face Luffy as he used his body as a shield against the molten rock fist. He took a deep breath, bracing himself for the impact as it was about to come. The older man thought through so much in the small window of time anticipating the strike; the times he spent hating himself, the times he spent finding himself, the times he spent forgetting his origins, the times he spent loving his brothers and his family, the times he spent caring for others, the times he spent controlling his destiny, the times spent putting Luffy first and himself second.

 

He found that in the end, he didn't do any of that enough. Ace knew that this would just be in vain if he couldn't protect Luffy in this dire situation.

 

But Ace was weak.

 

Physically, weak.

 

And besides being a barrier between pure lava and his little brother, Ace couldn't do too much.

 

With resolve, Ace took a final look at Luffy and squared his shoulders.

 

Akainu was going in for the attack.

 

He could feel the heat approaching him in slow motion, the fist growing closer to him with every passing millisecond.

 

Approaching, curious enough, from the right side.

 

The admiral wanted to knock Ace out of the way while killing him, so he'd have a clear strike for Luffy afterwards.

 

Ace wouldn't give him that much.

 

The older brother leaped forward, tackling Luffy and rolling forward, clearing the smaller boy of the attack.

 

Though not himself.

 

Ace felt hot. A completely different hot than he feels normally, or even when he engulfs himself in his flames.

 

That's bearable.

 

This, however, was a total, white hot, hard heat that he would never have been able to reach with his powers.

 

It was literally beyond his processing. The pain was isolated, though. His back was the most affected, the pain traveling down to his legs and out to his arms in shockwaves.

 

He held out far too long and couldn't hold himself anymore.

 

Ace was on his hands and knees, hovering over Luffy, looking him in the eye as he bared the pain. Luffy crawled from under him, continuing to look at the older man as he moved in front of him. The aftershocks of pain were too much, Ace's arms gave out and he landed on Luffy's shoulder. He began to only hear ringing in his ear and seeing blurs of colors.

 

"A- Ace...?"

 

These may be his final words, he has to make these words encompass what he is feeling in the moment.

 

Luffy was saying more, and he was fairly sure that there were people in the background fighting closer to him, but he couldn't hear all too well.

 

"I can't raise my voice to let everyone hear me anymore, could you tell them what I'm about to say now?" Ace could feel Luffy's grip on his tightening, his hands getting sweatier, and his body trembling. "Pops, everyone! And you... Luffy. Even though I've been good for nothing my whole life, even though I have the blood of a demon within me... You guys still loved me! Thank you so much!"

 

Unspoken words rung in his ears; "Thank you all for loving me!" he wanted so badly to scream, shout, say, mutter, whisper, but he couldn't will himself to, his body was too far gone.

 

Ace's vision blurred more, and the ringing in his ears grew louder. He slumped, body feeling utterly numb and even more, unbearably hot.

 

He couldn't move, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't hear or see anymore. Ace truly thought that it was his time of dying.

 

But he could still think.

 

In the darkness of his mind, he could think, and remember, and imagine.

 

First, he thought he heard some intelligible voice saying something close to him. Then, another muttering something over him.

 

And he thought he felt himself get lifted into the air.

 

He thought he felt himself flying somehow.

 

He thought he felt more of that white hot heat, though next to him this time, not touching him.

 

He thought he felt a series of bumps and sharp movements.

 

Then, he thought he felt cold.

 

* * *

 

"We have three patients in need of attention right now. Everyone with some sort of medical knowledge needs to have sanitized and put on gloves, everyone else, set the course for Amazon Lily then act as support. We're going to need full cooperation tonight everyone."

 

Law was giddy. This operation was going to be extremely delicate, entirely unique to him and his crew. "Everything is in order captain! Fire Fist, Straw Hat, and The Knight of the Sea have all been prepped. We have transfusions ready for all of them. Vitals are being checked and everything is ready to go." Penguin said. "Make sure to have Fire Fist put in Sea Prism Stone restraints." Shachi looked confused. "Why captain?" "We have never worked on a Logia type before. For all we know, we won't be able to touch him without Haki. Better to be safe than sorry. Besides," Law grinned. "Not like he can say anything right now." Shachi nodded. "Right. I'll get on it."

 

After sanitizing his hands and arms and putting on a pair of gloves and a mask, Law accessed the patients.

 

Jimbei was pierced cleanly through the chest, losing copious amounts of blood and on the verge of death. He voiced this to the medical team, then continued to look over the brothers.

 

The two were both in severe condition; both looked mildly malnourished, both showed signs of exhaustion, both had massive open injuries. Luffy, though, may have more, worse injuries to be revealed on the inside.

 

"Do you need anesthesia?" Penguin asked. "That won't be necessary," he began, "The three of them are so badly injured they won't feel any pain. They shouldn't have the energy to complain no matter what I do. "

 

Looking over the patients one more time, Law smirked. 

 

"This will be a fun operation. Let's begin. I need three over at The Knight of the Sea, three at Fire Fist, and two with me here at Straw Hat."

 

The surgeries began.

 

It was infuriatingly time-consuming as well as nerve-wracking to perform the surgery, but Law focused entirely on Luffy and never let up.

 

During the attack from Aokiji, Law barely batted an eyelash at the jarred ship and the startled crew members.

 

Even when the team on Jimbei was finished, Law didn't stop to congratulate.

 

After the surgery on Ace was completed, and they needed another opinion on his physical state, Law didn't stop to view the man's body.

 

The procedure on Straw Hat Luffy took 28 hours total, (Law stopping, reluctantly, to switch patients once in a while, though always returning to Luffy soon) having multiple hiccups throughout.

 

The kid could never catch a break, it seemed; whenever they got one system up, either part of it or another system would go down. Once reconstructing Luffy's lungs (along with Ace's), the young boy's heart gave out. After getting his heart back up, he stopped breathing despite the help from the machine, then his liver gave out. Subsequently, upon fixing that, his heart stopped beating again. It was a cycle, an annoyingly dangerous cycle, that required Law's full attention.

 

This was mainly because of the stress, fatigue, and overexertion the younger boy experienced the days leading up to the War of the Best at Marineford and during the war. It was surprising he didn't die in the middle of battle, given how battered his internal organs were. There was evidence of years worth of damage formed in a short amount of time; Law speculates weeks ago, days ago, hours ago in some instances.

 

All the more interesting to Law.

 

He could fill a book with an analysis of Straw Hat Luffy, and decided to in order to give his ship's doctor a record of what injures and newly developed conditions the young captain now has.

 

So he spent the days after the surgery in the submarine writing the report. He nearly filled a book on it, sparing some pages for Fire Fist Ace to have a full report as well, though his internal condition was much less severe than his brother's. Reconstructed lungs, liver, and stomach, shorten small intestines, removed kidney, set and reconstructed ribs, along with a few notes on his rehabilitation and new diet were written in. He made a separate report for Jimbei, to give to his respective crew once everyone was ready to be dispatched from Amazon Lily. Again, a much less severe report, mostly recounting the dressing of the chest wound and the impact of it in the future. Thankfully the fishman had so much fat there that the piercing didn't hit or spread to any vital organs.

 

It was a relaxing activity after all the chaos of the battle and the surgeries.

 

"Trafalgar Law." the man turned around upon hearing his name, seeing Jimbei in his doorway, torso wrapped in bandages and arm in a sling. "Yes, Knight of the Sea?" the fishman smiled and stepped into the office-like room. "Please, call me Jimbei."

 

Law got a seat for the ex-Warlord. "Alright, Jimbei-ya, what brings you to my office today? Wanted to refill that prescription I gave?" He joked. The fishman chuckled and sat down. "No, I am good for now. I wanted to thank you for saving those boys' lives as well as mine. You and your crew endangered yourselves for the sake of Luffy, Ace, and myself when you never had to."

 

"Really, the pleasure was all mine. You have no idea how fun it was to work on you three, especially Straw Hat." Law sighed blissfully and looked at the ceiling. "A fishman, a Logia, and a rubber man, sounds like a set up to a bad joke, but it was very much a dream performing the surgeries."

 

Jimbei gave the surgeon a look of quiet concern. "Regardless, I am in your debt. I cannot thank you enough for saving them."

 

The Heart Pirate captain smirked. "You're good, man. Welcome. Wow, a fishman, a Logia, and a rubber man..."

 

"You could not say that phrase in that tone, you know." Jimbei said.

 

"Do you have any idea how _creepy_ you sound right now!?" That is the Logia, Law thought before Ace came into view. 

 

Ace looked worse for wear, chest and arms covered completely in bandages, back covered in gauze, though looking remarkably better than he was days ago. The man hugged Jimbei lightly, as to not hurt himself or the fishman, then turned his attention back to the surgeon.

 

"I tend to get that a lot, actually. My crew has gotten use to it." the surgeon said humorously. "But you, Fire Fist, should be on bed rest for another few weeks. You're too weak right now to be walking around as much as you are." Ace stepped further into the room and got closer to him. "I feel like shit but I'm still able. Look, I wanted to thank you for saving Luffy and Jimbei and me. You have no clue how much this means to me." 

 

Law looked Ace up and down. His eyes were glossy and full of resolve, his famous fists were clenched, and his was jaw set. "Really, just as I was telling Jimbei-ya, that it was my pleasure. Above all else, I was just doing my job." 

 

"Your job doesn't include risking you and your crew's tail by showing up to battle." Ace stated. "If you weren't as fast in getting away, and they caught you all, you'd get executed for aiding us." The captain was silent at that statement. "It worked out, and that's what really matters at the end of the day." he said finally. Ace's expression changed at that. "I'm not too sure what you wanted to get out of doing this, but saving Luffy was extremely important to me. I don't know what I would do if I found out he..." Ace trailed off and looked at the door, jaw getting tighter and shoulders shaking slightly.

 

"Hey, where is this coming from? The goal was to save a life, and I saved three. It's no fun having a dead rival, is it?" Law said calmly. "You need rest, Fire Fist, so do you, Jimbei-ya."

 

Ace looked ardent, though dropped the topic. "Thank you again- wait, I never got your name, did I?" the fiery man said with a small laugh. "It's Trafalgar. Trafalgar Law." 

 

"I'll remember that. Thank you so much." 

**Author's Note:**

> these are the first two parts of what I wrote years ago, and I hope everyone enjoys them! 
> 
> honestly, I'm super open to direction suggestions if anyone does indeed enjoy this!
> 
> please leave kudos and a comment, I love hearing feedback!
> 
> I'm also on tumblr as raincloudfedarie! stop by and say hi!


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